Price of Plagiarism

by: Jennifer Kumar

I found out through personal experience that in some places plagiarism does not have a bad reputation, in fact through plagiarising reputation through higher marks is rewarded.

This place was my study abroad location, India. In fact, the way the educational system was set up at the time I was there, I know why this was happening. In fact before going to India, some international students I studied with here in U.S. from India were plagiarising in different capacities, though not as blatant as what I found in India.

Semesters began with students frantic to find one copy of the latest textbook or written materials for the class. Soon as the coveted collection of materials were found, one student would tally up how many people wanted copies - some wanted their own, and sometimes small groups of students would share one copy among them- and run out of the college gate, across the road and to the 'xerox' station. There, the materials would be handed over to the clerk running the shop, he'd take the materials, tally, ask for single or double sided and if it needed to be bound or not, and tell the student when to come back to collect the finished copies. After collecting study materials, the next aspect of plagiarism was the tests and assignments. It was better to write answers on papers exactly as the teacher had said, or exactly as stated in the favorite text of the teacher. I realized quickly it was better to regurgitate word for word to get better marks.

The thing is I don't think people thought of it as plagiarism, though. Educational systems were not set up for individual thought or any open expression. Students were not encouraged to speak up, especially if the opinions differed from the teachers. This was my impression in comparison to my college experience in U.S. I am thinking Indian students accustomed to growing up with that culture may have a different outlook on that.

The one place, however original ideas was encouraged was in our thesis project. Standards for citing other author's works were equitable to what I experienced in U.S. The majority of the project needed to be the student's original creation based on their personally created social interviews, research and analysis of statistics. Citing other articles was required for justification of arguments.

I am inspired to talk about this after reading two recent articles written on this topic- Australian University May Discipline Staff in Plagiarism Scandal, but Not Students and Yale Professor at Peking U. Assails Widespread Plagiarism in China. A few suggestions I have for colleges hosting international students to alleviate these concerns is:
1. Colleges hosting international students must address this in the orientation sessions.
2. Colleges hosting 2+2 or twinnings programs must assure the foreign university they are paired with have similar definitions for plagiarism.

Before I went to India, I did a lot of reading about the collective culture, but no amount of reading could have prepared me for immersing myself behaviorally, mentally, socially, emotionally and spiritually in this culture. Collective cultures revere collective and consensus thinking - with the leadership in thought generally coming from someone respected in the family, college, or in the field of study. Words from that person are rarely questioned and are taken at face value. It is a shift in many aspects of life for a person to transition between these two cultures. I do not pose these arguments to justify plagiarism, but to demonstrate that college and university staff must be culturally sensitive in addressing these issues and not expect all students studying in Western countries would by default already be subscribing to the same plagiarism rules as the U.S.

Additional Resources: Australian Government Research Snapshot: International Students by Gender Twinnings (2+2) Programs Gain Popularity Between China and Canada

Economics of Study Abroad - Reflections

by: Jennifer Kumar

Reflecting on the current state of the American Dollar, I posted a link to an article from Worldhum.com titled American Expats in Britain Suffer ‘24/7 Sticker Shock’. Since, I have located another article titled The Dollars and Cents of Studying Abroad. In reading these articles and being aware of the ever increasing market for ‘study abroad’ loans, I wanted to share my thoughts on the economics of studying abroad.

I admit years ago (1997 to be exact) economics was the main reason I went to India as a matriculated student rather than a Minnesota MSID exchange student. It was a very competitive program to enter, but I was accepted. However, had to decline later when the tuition rules changed and I was expected to pay twice the amount I was paying per year at my home college (the new total was over US$20,000). So, I did not attend that program and took a different route to India. Within two years, I became the first matriculated student from America to attend Madras Christian College. I also became the first American to graduate from the college with a M.A. Social Work two years after that.

How did economics factor into all of this? Well, rather than pay U of M $20,000 for a one year program that would not give me a degree, I paid $2,000 for a two year stay in India to achieve a Master’s degree. Within this US$2,000, I paid for my full tuition, room and board (three semesters on campus and one as a paying guest), mess (hostel food), in country travel and miscellaneous expenses. Within this budget I lived very well. The fight tickets to India and back were more costly than my degree and in-country living expenses! When I began working in U.S., I came to find out that I really saved a bundle as my colleagues had spent upward of US$50,000 for their social work master’s degrees here in U.S., and were in major debt.
So, economics played a different role for me than today's study abroad students. Today, the toll of economics is set against the fluctuating dollar, which seems to be loosing purchasing power around the world. This encourages students to choose the countries where the dollar can go father for daily living expenses. This may encourage students and colleges to take new approaches to study abroad. Of the many approaches that exist, I will discuss two:

1. Comparing prices based on total amount spent on tuition and living expenses once in country. Quoted from The Dollars and Cents of Studying Abroad, “For Middlebury College students, for example, a year in Florence costs around $37,000; at Santiago, Chile, it's $27,000.” This, of course, is an extreme example, but none the less quite realistic. I know this kind of comparison haunted me in my study abroad choice between India and Japan in 1997. Of course, India won out – and must I add for many other reasons beside economics!
2. New approaches to study abroad that expel the myth that study abroad is a diversion on the path to getting a degree and that Americans have to pay American tuition even in other countries where those expenses would be less. Twinnings programs allow for the smooth flow of academics so that a degree is the final outcome and saving money is inevitable. For instance, Rajagiri College in Kochi India has Twinnings Programs in various subjects and in various colleges around the world. Economics and the promise of a ‘foreign degree’ for many Indian and non-Indian students alike are the selling points. For more details on this see the Rajagiri Twinnings Brochure for economic breakdown – from the Rupees perspective.

Based on this limited discussion, there are different ways of approaching the economic quandary of studying abroad. It may seem that as the dollar fluctuates, study abroad is out of reach. I challenge this assumption because there are so many avenues to study abroad and with enough research and the right mindset there is a good study abroad fit for your academic, professional, personal and economic goals!

Share you experiences or other study abroad economic considerations below.

Note: The link I have found for MSID India appears to go to Jaipur and not Pune. I could not find the Pune program. If it exists, please send the link to me by leaving it in a comment below.

Related Posts/Sites: One list of India Study Abroad Programs